"Unfortunately, before I could get any answers, you killed him. That's why I wasn't as excited as you would like me to be. Knowledge is the biggest weapon in this world, but when one fails to grasp Umar knowledge in haste, it is a wasted opportunity." Raphael sighed, gazing at Azekiel on the bed.
He continued,[]"I am happy we took out our enemy, but I would've been happier if we had done that after we knew everything about him and why he was scared of facing us."
"That's all you worry about? Are you forgetting about Azekiel's Gluttony of Knowledge? You wanted answers, and Azekiel would have those answers now. Now that Azekiel has all those memories, he would know everything that you're confused about. In fact, you can ask him everything yourself."
Lia couldn't help but find it funny that it was Raphael's concern. There was no need to be concerned about it since that knowledge wasn't lost.
"Moreover, thanks to Azekiel, we can now get more accurate answers to your questions. Even if Alion had answered you, was there any way for you to be sure that he was telling the truth? He could've said one truth and mixed it with a thousand lies. But now, we won't have to worry about being fooled."
"Also, as far as waiting is concerned, we certainly could've waited for your return to tell you about this plan change, but by then, it might have been too late. Lenora's consciousness was quite fragile, so we had to act fast."
"In any case, I think this worked out quite well. If we hadn't done it now, who knew how many factors could've come into play later? We might be at a disadvantage instead. There are so many things that could've happened. Selecting the right moment and not wasting it is as important as the plan itself."
Lia tried to justify her actions. Raphael knew that she was right on her own, but that's because she didn't know everything that he did. She was right that Azekiel had the knowledge now, but that's where the risk arose from. Just what kind of information was this? Just how was it going to change Azekiel?"
Forty-eight hours passed away, and Azekiel still hadn't woken up. His condition appeared to be stable, but he was showing no signs as if he was about to wake up anytime soon.
The beasts still roamed around the city, but without Alion and Lenora, they were now aimless. They didn't know what to do anymore.
"Anything?" Raphael asked Lia, who finished checking up on Azekiel.
"He seems to be fine. His mind is still tired though. I think the memories he received were too much. It's taking quite a long time for his mind to grasp and decipher that knowledge."
"He still needs more rest," Lia explained before stepping back.
Two more days passed, and everything was still the same. It had been over four days since Azekiel left the tower and around the same time since Alion was killed.
Without any master, the beasts had started losing control, returning to their wild self. They acted less like an army now and more like beasts that just wanted to kill whatever they saw.
The beasts started attacking each other, and it wasn't just happening in the city. It was happening all around the world as beasts killed each other.
The number of beasts around the world had halved in the last four days, and it was only going down more with each passing second as the beasts became more bloodthirsty.
Raphael and Lia were still in Azekiel's room, keeping an eye on him. Azekiel was sitting on a chair with his arms folded. His eyes were closed, making him look like he was sleeping. Lia was sitting on the end near Azekiel.
"How long is it going to take... Just what was in those memories that it's taking him so long to grasp then?" Lia asked, letting out a sigh. It was like she was talking to herself and not answering anyone else.
She placed her hand on Azekiel's forehead to once again check how his condition was, but before her fingers could even though Azekiel's forehead, his hand grasped her wrist, stopping her.
Azekiel opened his eyes, gazing at Lia.
"You are up! Finally!" Lia exclaimed, seeing Azekiel open his eyes. However, as she gazed into Azekiel's eyes, she felt something strange.
His eyes... They were quite different now. His eyes were a lighter shade of green now, looking even more beautiful. His skin also appeared to be clearer now.
What was more strange was that she felt a quite different kind of aura from Azekiel now. As soon as he opened his eyes, his aura had changed in essence. From the usual strong yet pure aura, his aura was now much darker and seemed even stronger.
Raphael also sensed this aura. He opened his eyes, noticing Azekiel holding Lia's wrist.
Azekiel freed Lia's hands and sat up. "I am hungry."
Even as Azekiel woke up after so long, the first thing that came out of his mouth was that he was hungry. Lia found it quite ordinary though. It had been close to four days since Azekiel ate anything.
"There must be something to eat inside your storage time," she reminded him, but Azekiel ignored her as he got off the bed.
He left the mansion, surprising others. Normally, when he was hungry, he just brought the fruits out of his ring and ate them as fast as he could since he didn't like being hungry. Unfortunately, instead of doing that, he was now leaving the mansion.
Lia followed after Azekiel with Raphael. The two of them followed him out of the mansion, keeping an eye on him to see where he was going. Raphael understood that it was because of the knowledge. That knowledge had certainly changed him a bit, but how... He wasn't sure. He was really curious to see what he was going to do.
Until now, the reality and the world seemed to be intact, so it was confirmed that the world wasn't going to be destroyed just by Azekiel knowing this knowledge. However, even then, there was still the question of why this knowledge was dangerous, according to Alion.
Raphael saw Azekiel stop in the middle of the street, noticing two beasts that were fighting in the distance. The beasts also noticed him. As soon as they saw a human, they stopped attacking each other and instead lunged at Azekiel.
Azekiel didn't call out his Gauntlets of Gluttony in anticipation of the attack. He just stood in this place.
"Just what is he doing? Why isn't he calling the Gauntlets?" Lia asked. "Maybe his mind still isn't out of his daze. I will help him."
Lia stepped forward to cast a spell to protect Azekiel, but Raphael stopped her. "Don't do anything. He doesn't look like he's in trouble. I want to see what he's planning."
"But what if he isn't planning? What if he's really hurt? It's better safe than sorry. He just woke up after a long sleep."
"I have a feeling he isn't going to be hurt," Raphael answered. "Something is going to happen. Watch."
Just as he finished speaking, Azekiel raised his right hand. "Right on time."
He opened the system screen before him and placed his hand in the middle of the screen before making a strange Symbol. It was as if his finger was a pen and the screen was a piece of paper.
It took him only a few seconds, but as soon as he finished, the screen turned blood red.
"Die!" Azekiel called out. As soon as the word came out of his lips, the beasts in the distance fell to the ground, lifeless.
The beasts didn't move anymore.
"How..." Lia stood with her lips open. Just how did he do it? Even she couldn't understand. He hadn't attacked the beasts. She was watching from start to finish. No attack landed on the beasts. It was as if a single word... That single word killed the beasts, but how was that possible?
Even Raphael was taken aback.
He had a better vision than Lia, and he had managed to see the red screen. As soon as Azekiel finished carving that strange Symbol, a few words appeared on the screen.
He didn't see much of the words since most of them were hidden by Azekiel's body, but he did manage to see one. The world was "Master."
The System of Gluttony never addressed Azekiel as master. It was more like the owner itself who was making Azekiel dance to its tune. But now it was addressing Azekiel as master? Why? Just what was in that knowledge? Just what did Azekiel know how?
Azekiel walked closer to the beasts. He finally called out his Gauntlets, turning it into an ax.
"Let's have a feast." He looked back, talking to Lia and Raphael. There remained a smile on his face, which seemed a little bit crazy. It was an expression that Raphael never saw on Azekiel's face.
